This application relates, primarily, to guiding structure for an inlet manifold in a fuel cell.
Fuel cells are becoming widely utilized to provide generation of power. In a standard fuel cell, an inlet manifold directs a fuel, such as hydrogen, from a pipe into a generally planar manifold. A common configuration has the manifold positioned on one side of a cell stack, and an outlet manifold is positioned on an opposed side of a cell stack. Another configuration has the inlet and outlet manifold on the same side each covering a proportion of that side while the opposite side is a fuel turn manifold which covers the full side.
The fuel enters through the inlet pipe at a relatively high velocity, and then expands into the enlarged area of the inlet manifold. The high velocity fuel stream presents a challenge to evening spread the fuel across the face of the cell stack in the manifold. An even distribution of fuel is important to increase fuel cell operational life and to provide rapid start up. An uneven distribution, or maldistribution, of fuel will locally starve portions of the fuel cell. This starvation will create permanent areas of damage to the anode and cathode cells.
Previous attempts that have been utilized is the provision of a plurality of guiding passages such that the fuel is split into a number of separate channels, and then distributed across the face of the cell stack.
These approaches have been unduly complex, and have not always adequately addressed the problem.